F(L)AT by F.A.T. (rhymes ;) )

[F.A.T.]

 

Hi Guys!

 

It has been a bit quiet lately, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been sitting around entertaining Pixel  (.. ok a bit true ;))

This is a build made for MSI, they asked to make 3 demo systems to sent to reviewers and press in Europe.
There were a few conditions to this build;

All the best features of the hardware had to show (duhuu)
It had to be solid and sturdy so it could be send to lots of different locations.
New hardware that hasn’t even been invented yet has to fit in there !

 

The first one was the prototype and this one was displayed at a event in the Netherlands called Firstlook.
Here are the renders of the scratch build!

 

 

 

 

Very easily said, it is a flat surface where you can install the motherboard and the GPU. In the stand at the back of the case we will build the power supply and SSD.
2 things are very important, a good PCI-express cable and a modded AIO cooler!
Highflow.nl has the perfect PCI-expresscables from Li Heat. these calls run stable on 3.0 and are available till 35cm and nicely covered in black fabric. Looks perfect! 

This is where it all begins, steel steel and more steel ;)!

 

 

Drawing everything on

 

 

&…..cutting!

 

 

 

Cutting angles so all the parts will fit together nicely in the end.

 

 

 

Now, puzzle everything together ;)!

 

 

 

This will be a part of the stand at the back of the case which will hold the power supply.

 

 

In the middle there is extra steel reinforcements on which we can attach the foot of the case.

 

 

The cable has to go through the frame so there will be a rectangular hole in the profile so it will fit through nicely!

 

 

 

 

The On/Off switch will be placed there

 

 

 

 

Checking the angles!

 

 

 

Ready to weld everything together!

 

 

 

Normally we solder stuff together in stead on welding. Welding something together is no problem, but I doubt that it will win in a ‘beautiful-welds-contest' ! Luckily it will look nice afterwards.

[Stefan1024]

... and an other one by FAT. Nice!

What are the dimensions of the frame? I assume it's designed for a mATX MoBo.

 

If you need a 500 mm PCIe riser, 3M makes very good once: http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?mpart=8KC3-0726-0500&vendor=19

I used them and I can resommend them.

[F.A.T.]

4 minutes ago, Stefan1024 said:

... and an other one by FAT. Nice!

What are the dimensions of the frame? I assume it's designed for a mATX MoBo.

 

If you need a 500 mm PCIe riser, 3M makes very good once: http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?mpart=8KC3-0726-0500&vendor=19

I used them and I can resommend them.

Yes, and there will be more !!

The dimensions of the frame are roughly 45x65cm it actually will fit a ATX extended MoBo and any graphics card !

Thanks for the tip! We used the ones made by Li Heat from High flow; http://www.highflow.nl/hardware/videokaarten/li-heat-pci-e-gen-3.0-ribbon-flexible-riser-cable-black.html which also work very well!  

[Stefan1024]

5 minutes ago, F.A.T. said:

Yes, and there will be more !!

The dimensions of the frame are roughly 45x65cm it actually will fit a ATX extended MoBo and any graphics card !

Thanks for the tip! We used the ones made by Li Heat from High flow; http://www.highflow.nl/hardware/videokaarten/li-heat-pci-e-gen-3.0-ribbon-flexible-riser-cable-black.html which also work very well!  

Wow, it is way bigger than I it looks like.

The riser you liked has a rather funny description. I assume it is screwed up by the automatic translation of English (?). They use the wrong units for the metrics they descripe and generally not the adequate therms. Not very thrustworthy, but I hope in your native language it looks better.

However, up to 250 mm you get away with the non-impedance matched cables, 350 mm is already a stretch. But if it doesn't work, just set the like to PCIe 2.0, it's not making a performance difference for non-GPGPU workloads (e.g. gaming).

[RustyHamrLickr]

Looks interesting. But some precisions: is it a wall build for a desk?

For the welding, as long as they are strong enough, and it's behind the frame, I don't think many people will care (at least not me).

[F.A.T.]

10 hours ago, Stefan1024 said:

Wow, it is way bigger than I it looks like.

The riser you liked has a rather funny description. I assume it is screwed up by the automatic translation of English (?). They use the wrong units for the metrics they descripe and generally not the adequate therms. Not very thrustworthy, but I hope in your native language it looks better.

However, up to 250 mm you get away with the non-impedance matched cables, 350 mm is already a stretch. But if it doesn't work, just set the like to PCIe 2.0, it's not making a performance difference for non-GPGPU workloads (e.g. gaming).

Good to hear!

I think the translation is not right, it is a dutch webshop they! have a lot of good stuff!

Seems like both 3M and Li Heat cables are good then! :) 

 

4 hours ago, RustyHamrLickr said:

Looks interesting. But some precisions: is it a wall build for a desk?

For the welding, as long as they are strong enough, and it's behind the frame, I don't think many people will care (at least not me).

 

Thanks :D!

No, it is not a wall build for a desk, good idea though ;) ! It is a case that will be used to send to Press and reviewers, so just a ..case..?

The welds are strong so we should be good! In the end result you don't see any of the welds  

[F.A.T.]

Ok, this is how the prototype was build. We welded the frame with brass welding rod and a propane/oxygen torch but we quickly decided to switch to simple electrode welding. This worked out a lot easier and quicker!
After the prototype we also adjusted the design of the frame so it became lighter and more sturdy!

This is the outer frame welded and sanded, already looking good (if I say so myself )

 

 

 

Tenzin did the drawing for the backplate in illustrator and lasercut it out of wood.

 

 

Fits like a puzzel :D!

 

 

Made the angles so the profile fits in the frame nicely. There will be 2 horizontal and one vertical beam in the frame to attach the stand/foot to. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The stand at the back looks like this and will hold the power supply!

 

 

Everything put together :D! Tadaa

 

 

 

 

In the last update there was a hole in the profile of the frame where the riser cable was supposed to go through. 

This is the prototype and with this one we had to cut it out after welding the frame together !!

 

 

The Vandal switches with a lighted white ring around it

 

 

The beautiful black 35cm riser cables from highflow.nl

 

 

 

The RGB controller from Aquacomputer with bluetooth! 

 

 

The backpanel was a lot of work to draw. The radiator and fans have to blow the air through and the motherboard will be attached to it. There will be a cut out to easily install the CPU Cooler.

 

 

The result in the next update !

[nycesquire]

Love these scratch builds. Very impressive.

[BeardRex]

Looking forward to see more

[TheCamba]

This is going to be epic.

[F.A.T.]

 

On 31 mei 2016 at 5:26 AM, nycesquire said:

Love these scratch builds. Very impressive.

On 31 mei 2016 at 4:27 PM, BeardRex said:

Looking forward to see more

On 31 mei 2016 at 7:18 PM, TheCamba said:

This is going to be epic.

Thanks guys !

 

Ok,

 

After welding trying to fit everything together again!

 

 

 

The on/off switch

 

 

Ofcourse we tried to testfit every component, so that you have a good idea of the size of the frame in total. 
On the right of the motherboard there will be a 240 radiator and below the GPU. The powesupply and the SSD will be placed in the foot at the back!

 

 

The frame, sanded and ready for painting.

 

 

 

The corners of the frame are made of POM (acetal) a very tough and hard kind of plastic which will not break 
They will protect the frame from blows and other things during transportation.
In the next update I will add the pictures of making these corner pieces!

Drilling is relatively easy in this material. These holes are for some customized nuts. The nuts are customized on a lathe so that they can be easily pressed in the corner pieces.

 

 

In the corner pieces we made some thread to hold the bolts in place. The thread will make sure that the bolts don’t have to be glued in but are simply clamped by the thread.

 

 

Cut out a bit of material to make it fit to the frame perfectly.
Maybe you have already met “Dave” the multitool ;)?! He has been SUPER helpful!!
(Next update I will post another photo of dave !)

 

 

 

Now just press in the bolt with the vice and because of the thread it slides in nicely and stays in place!

 

 

 

 

Tadaa, the final result of the corner pieces on the frame, In total there are 4 pieces!
Also you can see the result of painting !

 

[F.A.T.]

Super long update coming up!!!!

But first…

Took me some time to post a new one, I’ve been working on my jewelry collection. I had a big jewelry exhibition and everything worked out very well!
here are a few pic’s of the jewelry and presentation! (the casemodding skills came in quite handy with the presentation) !

 

 

 

that said…. lets add some pictures :D!

 

Here you see how the corner pieces are attached to the frame. First we drilled holes in the steel and made some thread….again….

 

 

 

 

In the last update you saw the corner pieces for the frame. Here you can see how they were made.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neatly finished and all! 

 

To screw on the window we used standard bolts and customized them, so they can be screwed in and removed easily by hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mass production

 

 

Before and after

 

 

Acrylics for the window.

 

 

 

Dave in action…

 

 

 

 

Window for the frame, the safety foil states on until the build is done (…one learns from ones mistakes )

 

 

 

 

Next update more pictures on the wooden panels covering up the back of the frame.

[TYG]

This looks like it's coming together nicely! Can't wait to see the final product!

[F.A.T.]

Yes, just a few posts left! I'll try to upload them this week

[nmil]

Looking good as always.

[Albatross]

Amazing! I can't wait to see what it looks like when it is completed.

[handymanshandle]

Looks pretty cool subbed.

[Bazadar]

Look forward to when it's completed.

[F.A.T.]

On 23 juni 2016 at 8:52 AM, nmil said:

Looking good as always.

 

On 23 juni 2016 at 9:08 AM, Albatross said:

Amazing! I can't wait to see what it looks like when it is completed.

 

On 23 juni 2016 at 10:17 AM, wcreek said:

Looks pretty cool subbed.

 

On 23 juni 2016 at 0:30 PM, DarkShadowUK said:

Look forward to when it's completed.

 

Thanks Guys ! Good to read your comments !

 

Another update on….
Hardware it is!

 

For the cooling of the build we used a  Nepton 240 from CoolerMaster. Ofcourse we had to tweak it before it could be used in the build. The space for the cooler is quite limited.
Thats why we choose a AIO so you don’t have to add a separate pump and reservoir. The tubes on the AIO are positioned in a way that they stick out to the front which is not really convenient in this build. So we decided to upgrade the aluminium radiator with a copper one and adjust the position of the tubes ! 

 

The patient; a Coolermaster Nepton 240M

 

 

 

Ok…there it goes…

 

 

 

 

Everytime I see this i have to think of.. 'We void your warranty' ...

 

 

Under this rubberplug there is a screw with a rubberring that we need to make a new fill port in the new copper radiator

 

 

 

New radiator and better :D!

 

 

Coolermaster fans  on the new !

 

 

Here you see the first version of the fill port! We drilled a hole on the bottom and glued on some extra metal with M4 thread.
Works well, but could be better. The next try was a bit different from the one before.

 

 

Step one is cutting the screw to the right size so it doesn’t block the water flow.

 

 

This time the fill port is located in the fitting, so it is richt on top of the radiator and facing the top of the case.

 

 

Step 2. is making a facet with a vile on the topside of the fitting.

 

 

Step 3. Drilling a 1,5mm hole.

 

 

Step 4. drilling the hole again with a 3,2mm drill

 

 

Step 5. Ofcourse…making thread (what else..) M4 because that is the size of the CM screw !

 

 

En thats it! 

And don’t forget about the rubber ring!

 

 

Next update more !

[Heesleemer]

ooh, i might have to do that with a spare IO (as it needs a fill port, since I've changed the tubing)

[F.A.T.]

 

On 26 juni 2016 at 5:43 PM, Heesleemer said:

ooh, i might have to do that with a spare IO (as it needs a fill port, since I've changed the tubing)

Yes, try it, its very effective! Let me know if it worked ;) !!

 

The frame is ready now we don’t need to weld anymore. So we can drill some holes for mounting.

 

 

 

and ofcourse…making thread again !….

 

 

The panels we use to cover up most of the case are made of wood. They all be covered in black self adhesive foil with a kind of 'sandpaper look’ texture.

These are the panels under the lasercutter.

 

 

the first parts glued together.

 

 

 

Luckily we have enough steel ;)!

 

 

 

 

 

This is where the GPU will fit in!

 

Behind the radiator there is a opened up part where the air can go through. 

 

 

Test fit with the MSI 980ti

 

 

Drilling the holes for the  pci express cable.

 

 

Motherboard standoffs 

 

 

 

Spray painting all the corners and edges, on top the self adhesive foil.

 

 

Just a sneak peak how we will finish the foot ;)!

[BeardRex]

Effin awesome

[F.A.T.]

 

On 13 juli 2016 at 8:51 PM, BeardRex said:

Effin awesome

 

Thanks :D!

 

 

DIY building package to make the foot for the PSU

 

 

 

Tape is very useful ;)!

 

 

Drilling holes in the frame to attach the foot to

 

 

Test fit for the power supply, big one that Cooler Master V1200

 

 

And wrapped it up with foil

 

 

 

Just as important as the Casemod, a case for sending it!

It will be send through Europe and should be able to withstand a lot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

tadaaa

 

 

 

Firm cases, don’t you think :)?

[TheCamba]

On 7/17/2016 at 7:51 AM, F.A.T. said:

-snip-

Even your cases are well built.